Comments on: Complaint Box | Brittney, Brittny, Brittneighhttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/
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By: triixhttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-821337
Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:53:38 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-821337I think there are much worse examples of bad parenting than naming your child something ‘youneeck’, like instructing your child to be a bully and tease other children – somehow that is ok, but Britta’nee is a shocker (“WTF, parents need to get a life, stop the insanity and get over yourself. I will make sure my kids make fun of your kid since their name is misspelled and just sounds plain stupid. — Jay Bird”).

I am a hiring manager and um, I can’t say I’ve ever NOT hired someone because they have an unusual name – “This person has a Masters Degree from NYU and was the top sales person at their last job, but man, no way am I hiring her – look at her name”. That’s just the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Get over yourselves.

]]>By: isaiah butlerhttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-813989
Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:04:37 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-813989i have a unique name spelled right from the bible.and then you get other people with the same name spelled completely wrong like isah,isaieh,isaah,izaiah,like come on people get some sense and spell you kids names right
]]>By: NYCTeacherhttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-798095
Sun, 14 Nov 2010 02:25:52 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-798095I cannot agree more with this complaint. As a teacher, I cringe to imagine what these will think when they realize their names are ridiculous or what human resource departments across the country will think about candidates with misspelled and embarrassing names. Here are a few of the worst student names (and pronunciations) I’ve seen on my class list…Somaily (Sa miley), Dimmamelle (Dimel), Joedan (Jordan), Sha-Niyhah, Jerleek, Suzette, Shaqueena and Marqwell. God help these children find a respectable job one day!
]]>By: Jessakkuhhttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-785041
Sat, 23 Oct 2010 16:51:36 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-785041If I had a girl I would name her MadisanMorgan because my mom told me that her one friends had a daughter and named her MadisanMorgan and she was born in 1982 and died at age 10 in 1992 from a cancer called Lukemia and my moms friend also had two other girls names Sadyee and Rebecca Sadyee was born like two months before died in 1992 and Rebecca was born in 1996 so Rebecca never met her older sister MadisanMorgan and I think that is SAD and my mom also told that when MadisanMorgan was alive people were mean to her because she had Lukemia like this one time she told me that back in 1987 when MadisanMorgan was 5 years old she had been out with her parents walking around town and a bunch of people were being mean to MadisanMorgan coz they knew she had cancer and I think that was very mean of them to do that so I would my kid MadisanMorgan as in a memory of that girl hoping that she has NO cancer.
]]>By: Bri Bankshttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-723212
Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:48:49 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-723212My name is Brittney. My mother claims that there were few people with this name 25 years ago when she made up her mind that this is what she would call me. I don’t go one day without meeting another Brittney or without hearing my name being called and it isn’t for me. Major setbacks to thousands of people 30 and under having your name is that it is most often misspelled. I don’t even get the courtesy of being asked the spelling of my name it is automatically spelled Britney or Brittany. ANNOYING!
]]>By: Brittanyhttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-690883
Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:57:39 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-690883As someone with the common name of Brittany, no matter what, I always either get asked to spell it, or it’s automatically spelled Brittney. My mom cringes when she sees it misspelled, maybe that’s where my prejudice comes in, but I agree with this article. Brittany, Caitlin, Madison, ..I could go on forever. It is much better to have to correct the spelling than have to spell ‘B r i t t k n e e ‘ out loud.
]]>By: Desireehttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-688723
Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:12:09 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-688723So, with my name I can understand, since I’m always asked how to spell it. But I did name my second son JoNathan (Jonathan, NOT Joe-Nathan) But he goes by Nathan and it seemed natural to spell his name as such.
It doesn’t really matter what the name is since I even get asked how to spell my oldest son’s name: Matthew. Really? And most people just shorten it to “Matt” anyway. Why bother asking? And I didn’t name him “Matt.”
With my third son, Caden, I figured it was pretty straightforward. Until I joined a large online mom’s group. And there is a group dedicated to “Moms of Caden, Kaden, Kaeden, Caidyn, Cayden…” You get the picture.
]]>By: Pmazkohttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-686813
Mon, 07 Jun 2010 02:55:51 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-686813It’s one thing to have an “immigrant’s” name that is unpronounceable in the US yet perfectly understandable where you originally come from, but purposely inflicting a tongue-twister on your child in his/her own domain is simply cruel. There are common names such as Kristina/Christina that will always require their owners to add the phrases, “with a K”, or, “with a CH”, but taking a common name and misspelling it to create uniqueness is like dressing a 7-year old boy to go to school in red corduroys, a label that insinuates ineptness and that is relentlessly difficult to overcome.
]]>By: Juan Chttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-686037
Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:04:57 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-686037Wow… Vanilla Ice’s kids are named Dusti Rain and Keelee Breeze? They’re a family of wine coolers!
]]>By: Talis1http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-685797
Fri, 04 Jun 2010 03:16:41 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-685797This is the same issue as parents imposing hyphenated last names on their children. It’s all about the parents and their wants and needs and identity issues, not about the child. This is not so terrible when the name is Yang-Hansen, but when its Archipopolus-Rosenshteyn, the poor kid has a real problem on his hands. And what happens when Caitlyne Archipopolus-Rosenshteyn marries Mykhael Gansevoort-Hermangelder? What is the order of operations that determines their sad offspring’s nom de difficile?
]]>By: oh hollandhttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-685179
Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:31:42 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-685179Ever since Eyjafjallajokull blew her stack, I thought how fun it would be to name a child after the volcano, then insist that’s just a nickname, short for Eyjafhj!diohfna&w?wyffen%poof
]]>By: Rhttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-684025
Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:55:46 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-684025name: Rosa

degree of unusual-ness: unusual

made up: no

mispronounced: rose, rosie, rosanne, rosalyn, etc. (in order of most common occurrence)

I don’t think the problem is totally parents. People just can’t read! Even for simple names that you just dont hear a lot.

]]>By: XYZhttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-683977
Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:29:43 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-683977I’ve met kids with a lot of names I would consider beyond the pale – particularly little girls named for adult feelings – but the name matters less than everyone’s reaction to it. If someone named Miami walked into my 5th grade classroom of Lindseys and Sarahs, she would have been extremely conspicuous, but because this is such a huge trend, it just doesn’t matter. If you call a kid Bronx for long enough, it ceases to be anything but your kid’s name.

I’ve read the study that shows people named Brandi are, statistically speaking, unlikely to earn as much as a Katherine, but I think those days are ending quickly.

]]>By: juliehttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-683153
Mon, 31 May 2010 16:23:30 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-683153This is a tale of a voluntary change of a last name (surname).

Last year, I changed my last name after several years of hating it. It carried a family emotional energy I didn’t want to hold or carry anymore, and I’d gotten sick of REspelling and REpronouncing my last name to every person who tried to spell or pronounce it without listening after I’d pronounced it for them. Literally, every phone call with any customer service associate at any company i dealt with, every conversation with a bank teller, even conversations with new clients or a potential employer included a butchering of my last name. “How do you pronounce that?” and after they repeated it with a misprononunciation, they’d say, “What a beautiful name!” BULL! It was a tongue-twister. When we all lined up in kindergarten to introduce ourselves to our teacher, when it was my turn and she heard my name (which I said and spelled), she said, “Are you sure?”

I changed it to a simple last name that is also the name of a well-loved flower.

It’ll take a while to get used to it after 50 years of using the family name, but I’m much more comfortable now. My former fellow New Yorkers could pronounce it on the first try, but since I live in another part of the country, it became an albatross. All I had to do was file papers and pay the cost. The judge was just a paper-stamping bureaucrat, didn’t even blink or ask a question. If you ended up with a difficult first name that you can’t stand, well, it wasn’t difficult for me to change it, and you can too!

]]>By: Annehttp://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/comment-page-9/#comment-683031
Mon, 31 May 2010 05:09:39 +0000http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/complaint-box-brittney-brittny-brittneigh/#comment-683031Every “Hunter” I know is white and born to parents who would sooner die than take their kids hunting.
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